This story is about a Malaysian startup VP who rose to the top of the startup world, lost it all, and rebuilt his life through driving for Grab, running a seafood hawker stall, and selling light sticks in Bukit Bintang.
Sebastian Tai Jian Haw used to believe that a shiny job title could protect him. In his late twenties and early thirties, he hustled his way up to a VP role at an ambitious eCommerce startup. He thought he had made it: the title, the team, the promise that the next level was just around the corner.
But six months later, that startup collapsed. The emails dried up overnight. People who once wanted his ideas disappeared. The lunch invites never came. Suddenly, Sebastian found himself as just another unemployed senior guy, carrying a title that meant nothing without a company behind it.
“When that happens, you question everything,” he says. “Your worth, your credibility, even your friendships.”
Driving to Survive
Image/Sebastian Tai Jian Haw
With bills to pay and a reputation that felt shaky, Sebastian signed up as a Grab driver. Twelve-hour days behind the wheel became his new normal. Some passengers made small talk. Others recognised him through the window but pretended not to see him.
“It’s humbling, sitting in your own car, driving people who might have seen you present in boardrooms,” he says. “But honest work is honest work. Nobody is too good for that.”
He also knew he could not do it forever. So, when an unexpected opportunity to take on a leadership role in Singapore came up, he grabbed it even though it meant stepping into an unfamiliar market without his old network or safety net.
A New Market, A New Risk
Image/Sebastian Tai Jian Haw
Moving to Singapore gave Sebastian a chance to rebuild, but nothing about it was easy. The city was expensive, the industry was competitive, and the self-doubt was always there. He had to learn a new market from scratch and prove he could still lead.
For a while, it worked. He built new teams, delivered results, and felt like he was back on track. But family needs and a quiet pull brought him home again, straight back into the same uncertainty he thought he had left behind.
Back to Malaysia, Back to Zero
One evening, while having seafood at a roadside stall in one of the busiest food centers in KL, Sebastian noticed that the food was genuinely good, but the business lacked structure, branding, or any digital visibility.
“I saw potential where others didn’t. More than that, I wanted to prove that I could still build something real, even if it meant starting from the ground up. No suits, no titles, just sleeves rolled up and lessons learned the hard way,” he shared with In Real Life.
Image/Sebastian Tai Jian Haw
He decided to invest, become a partner, and learn the trade himself. It was nothing like the boardroom. He scrubbed pans, prepped ingredients, and took orders from people who knew him as the guy who used to lead big teams.
“People love to talk about losing face,” Sebastian says. “Try telling your family you’re selling seafood instead of wearing a suit. But I realised pride can keep you stuck just as much as fear can.”
When the stall had to close and move to another spot with better potential, Sebastian followed the business, hoping the new location would help them bounce back. But then COVID hit and turned everything upside down. Some things do not go the way you plan, no matter how hard you try. Even with all their effort, the pandemic made it almost impossible to keep things going the way they hoped.
Selling Light Sticks in Bukit Bintang
During that time, Sebastian took on an unusual side hustle: selling light sticks on the streets of Bukit Bintang during the New Year countdown. While thousands of people were celebrating, he stood in the crowd with boxes of light sticks, counting coins instead of fireworks.
Since he didn’t have a license, Sebastian had to stay cautious and keep moving. “I made about RM100 that night,” he shared candidly. The experience taught him a lot about rejection and pushing through discomfort.
“That was my training ground for humility,” he says. “If you can stand in the middle of a crowd, selling five-ringgit light sticks when you used to wear a tie, you realise honest work is never beneath you.”
When It All Fell Apart Again
When the hawker stall struggled through the pandemic, it felt like another blow. He had tried to pivot, reinvest, and hold on, but some things are beyond control.
“Every time I found my footing, something shifted again,” he says. “I wanted to give up. But the bills don’t disappear. The only way out is through.”
Pivoting to B2B and Learning Again
Image/Sebastian Tai Jian Haw
Sebastian shifted gears once more, moving into B2B digital transformation. It was a space that came with new jargon, new networks, and old fears.
He showed up, learned, adapted, and slowly rebuilt his confidence in an industry he never imagined himself in when he was chasing fancy job titles. The lesson was clear: a real leader is not someone who only knows how to win but someone who learns how to lose and stand up again.
Over time, Sebastian’s quiet commitment to mentoring through platforms like NTUC, Talentbank, GMI, and FutureLab has become a core part of his identity.
That journey recently came full circle when he was appointed as a mentor for Jobstreet’s FLX programme spotlighted as an Outstanding Corporate Leader at Malaysia’s largest career and training fair.
Why He Mentors and Why He Coaches
Today, Sebastian is back in the chaos of startup life. He also actively mentors students and young talent who want to build big things but forget how fragile success can be. On top of that, he works as a certified part-time personal trainer, helping others transform their health the same way he learned to transform his own.
Image/Sebastian Tai Jian Haw
“Fitness was the one anchor that kept me steady when jobs didn’t,” he says. “It taught me that when the world is shaky, your discipline in the small things keeps you grounded.”
Throughout his career, he has helped businesses transform and each time, he has had to transform himself just to keep going. Now he wants to help people do the same: to build resilience when life is uncertain and to rebuild their own sense of worth from the inside out.
A Quiet Pride
Image/Sebastian Tai Jian Haw
If there is one thing Sebastian wants others to take from his story, it is this: your worth is not your business card. It is not how people introduce you at weddings or family dinners. It is whether you can stand back up when nobody is watching.
He has driven Grab, partnered in a hawker stall, sold light sticks in a sweaty crowd, pivoted to B2B, stood in boardrooms, and pitched ideas that were rejected only to come back and pitch again.
“Every time I get knocked down, I remind myself of this,” he says. “Real leaders aren’t the ones who never fall. They’re the ones who get up, transform again, and help others stand too.”
Because at the end of the day, there is no shame in honest work. The real loss is when you stop believing you can build again.
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Read also: From State Basketball Player to Farmer to Artist: How M’sian Richie Tan Defied a Conventional Career
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